


Wayward Daughter

by KnightlyWordsmith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Voltron: Legendary Defender Season/Series 08 Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22369561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightlyWordsmith/pseuds/KnightlyWordsmith
Summary: In a place outside reality Allura is met by many visitors as she decides what to do after sacrificing herself to save everyone...
Kudos: 15
Collections: Allura Lives Zine





	Wayward Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy to finally be able to share this fic that has come to be so very near and dear to my heart, as Allura herself is. Being able to contribute to this fantastic project has been an amazing experience, and I can't thank everyone enough for making my first zine experience such a good one! A special shout-out to [Tane](https://artbytane.tumblr.com/) who I collaborated with on this piece, and whose accompanying artwork can be found [here](https://artbytane.tumblr.com/post/190389485306/i-was-honored-to-be-part-of-the-wonderful#notes).
> 
> Also a big thank you to [ GalaxyMuse ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyMuse/pseuds/GalaxyMuse) for their help editing!

She felt weightless. Substanceless. Like a cloud, or air, or the faintest bit of light filtering through that air. Her thoughts and her whole sense of self floated in and out of focus, seeming to disappear for long stretches of time, only to float back at some later point. She wasn’t sure where she was, or if she really existed. Her senses were all muted, or maybe they weren’t even there at all. Maybe she wasn’t either? That thought left almost as quickly as it came, back into the ether of unreality. More thoughts, more floating, until finally something coalesced.

A tether. Of some sorts. It wasn’t physical, but in some sense she could feel it. A link from her heart leading to somewhere far off in the distance. Pulling her along.

It was some time before Allura realized that she was actually seeing something, meaning that her senses were returning to her. A figure, a dark silhouette against endless white light. This place was familiar. She’d been here before. Maybe in one of the endless lucid dreams she seemed trapped in? It was a place outside reality. It took time for her thoughts to piece themselves together, but when they did they snapped in place with a jolt. Not dreams. Memories. 

She watched as all realities were torn apart in front of her. She realized the only way to save anyone or anything would take all her powers with alchemy, all her quintessence, all that she was and could offer. She’d given it without hesitation. Though each goodbye she gave hurt more than the last, each one ripping her apart, tearing at her resolve, she’d done it. She’d given her life for the sanctity of all lives.

Yet she wasn’t dead. She was here in that space between realities, still tethered to something, and the figure before her, silhouetted by the light, took the shape of one she recognized easily.

In this space she once again wore the hooded cloak of the druids, but Honerva kept the hood held back now, revealing her Altean features. She looked older and more haggard than when Allura last remembered her, right before the two of them had joined forces to save at least one reality.

“Princess Allura.” The old woman’s voice was hoarse. It still sounded like the croak of a wicked witch Allura could remember from her bedtime stories, but the malice that once laced it was gone. Instead Honerva sounded tired. “Altea’s wayward daughter.” That too lacked the bitterness she once spat the words with. Honerva held out a hand, beckoning Allura closer.

Allura hesitated. The wounds of what Honerva had done still bit close to her heart. This woman was once her greatest enemy and likely still would be had Allura not forced her to relive her memories and show her where she’d gone wrong. 

Allura shuddered as she remembered her own actions in that moment. Her intentions hadn’t all been pure. A part of her then had simply wanted Honerva to feel the pain she’d inflicted on so many others, including Allura herself. She almost regretted what she’d done, but it had been the only way to stop the destruction of everything ever known. 

Despite all her misgivings, she approached.

“Our work is almost complete,” Honerva turned and gestured into the wide blank space behind her. An image appeared in that space. Stars, worlds, and comets all floating together in the wide expanse of space. How many people were out there, living their lives thanks to their sacrifice Allura wondered. As the image floated and shifted, Allura recognized the living world of a Balmera, the blue sphere of Earth, and a planet of purple and red that could only be a reformed Diabazal. The image shifted once more and the emotion that caught in Allura’s throat snatched her breath away.

“I don’t know how you did it Princess Allura but you brought back not only Diabazal, but our home too.”

 _“Altea_.” The word was barely a whisper. Allura’s hand reached out as if she could touch it. She could almost smell the whiff of juniberries and hear the cry of duflax that used to dance among Altea’s clouds. That likely were doing so now. Her sacrifice had done this? Then it was all the more worth it, even if it wasn’t meant for her. 

Altea’s wayward daughter indeed. So close, but ever so far from the home she’d loved and lost. That tether on her chest, on her heart, stretched taunt then loosened once more.

But Honerva was not done speaking. As Allura marvelled at the sight of her home lost so long ago but now formed anew, she felt the weight of Honerva’s palm on her shoulder. “There is only one thing it is missing now.”

The pressure of Honerva’s hand on her shoulder disappeared and as it did, so too did the image of Altea. Allura turned, hastily, wanting to call out to Honerva, wanting her to bring it back so she could see Altea just a moment longer. But Honerva was gone, and in Honerva’s place now stood another figure. One who elicited that same mixture of hate and pity, but also pain and regret.

“Allura.” Lotor’s voice was deep and rich as always. Full of vigor and a lust for life. With a turn of phrase she knew he would be able to make her believe anything could come to pass, that anything was possible with enough passion, enough effort, enough drive and will. Or he could have at one point. Now, after all that had happened, she wasn’t so sure.

“Lotor.” Allura kept her voice even, not betraying the roil of emotions that still rose in her chest at just the mere thought of him, let alone being in his presence. Competing emotions flashed through her, warring within, and she could feel her physical form stretching. As if sensing her flagging will, the tether on her chest pulled slightly, stronger than it had before, grounding her in this not-quite-reality again.

“I can’t imagine you’re too happy to see me of all people once again,” he said when she offered no other response. His teeth flashed that same brilliant white they always did as he gave her the slightest hint of a smile.

“Should I be?” There was a bite to her words she couldn’t stop this time. Anger was taking hold. A righteous fury over what he had done to her people.

He didn’t answer that right away. Instead he looked away from her, back into the long stretches of nothingness that made up this place. Allura regarded him, trying to read his expression, but found she couldn’t tell what it was he was hiding under his cool visage. When he turned back to her, rather than answering her question, he asked one of his own.

“Do you think you might ever be able to forgive me?”

Allura’s nostrils flared at the audacity of the question. “You used the Alteans.” She spat the words at him as her anger won out in full force. Her fists clenched as tears pricked at her eyes, and she could feel herself growing just a few millimeters as her anger rose. She remembered the betrayal she’d felt when his true plans had come to light and how he had gotten her to help him in it all. “You used the Coalition. You used Voltron. You used _me_.” 

She expected him to argue. Expected him to use his smooth words, and sultry voice to try and weave a web of deceit that painted him in a better light. To dress up a sinister plan in the guise of philanthropy. She almost wanted him to so that her anger and frustrations that had risen so unbidden to the forefront of her mind could be released. It felt good to let it all out, so good she hadn’t realized how much anger she’d still been harbouring.

What happened though was what she least expected.

He smiled, softly, maybe even sadly. For the briefest moment she thought she could once again see the man she’d grown fond of. And with that her anger dimmed. It didn’t disappear, but it was no longer controlling all her emotions and she settled back into her normal size. 

“Then you have no reason to stay here do you?” And just like that, just like his mother, he started to fade out of view.

She didn’t know what he meant by that, but there was something in his voice that stopped her still. She might never be able to forgive him, and he might truly not deserve to be forgiven, but for just that moment she knew in her soul that there was a hint of sincerity in his voice.

“Lotor,” she called out before he could disappear completely. He paused, his form shifting, growing translucent, but he turned back to her. “I did mean what I said. That young boy deserved so much better. But I- I just don’t know if I can ever forgive you.” She didn’t know why she was bothering saying this but she did it anyway. It was at the very least the truth. “I wish I could have met the man that boy should have grown into.”

Lotor swallowed visibly, then nodded. “I wish you could have too. But what’s happened has happened. You don’t belong here Allura. There are people out there who love you for who you are and deserve your love in return. People who still miss you.” He turned again and faded fully out of her sight.

Allura reached up to wipe away the wetness that had been threatening to spill down onto her cheeks. He hadn’t meant it cruelly, or at least she didn’t think he had, but the reminder of the new family she had lost cut deeply, reopening a wound barely closed. She would never regret her choice, never regret giving up what she had, but she knew she could live a thousand years in this empty space and never stop missing her friends.

She rubbed away at the tears and when she lifted her head again, she was met once more with a silhouette in the distance. Two figures this time, profiles so familiar that she recognized them instantly. The sight brought fresh tears to her eyes and she was running to them before they could even call out to her.

“My dearest Allura.”

“Darling.”

Allura crashed into her parents and was quickly enveloped in the warmth of their hugs. While her encounters with Honerva and Lotor had been fraught with a clash of emotion, for her parents there was only love, happiness, and the relief of being together after being so long separated.

“Look at how big you’ve gotten,” her mother’s voice whispered in her ear, whose forehead now barely reached Allura’s chin if they were to stand straight.

“We could not have been blessed with a more precious daughter.” King Alfor pulled back from the hug just enough so that he could cup Allura’s face in his hands. “Never could there be one we love more, or one we could be more proud of.”

Allura turned her face into her father’s palm, and tightened the arm she held around her mother’s small frame. “Everything I did, all of it, I did so I could make you proud. To spread the lessons of love and peace you both taught me.”

“You learned them almost too well Allura.” Her mother reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Allura’s ear. Her smile, once full of joy took on a wistful appearance. “This place, this sacrifice, is not for you my dear.”

“But I had to do it,” Allura protested. “It was the only way. My life for everyone’s. It wasn’t even a question.”

“Allura my dear,” the deep baritone of Alfor’s voice took on a firmer tone, “We have watched you from here far longer than you know. We have seen you sacrifice yourself time and time again. For your friends. For Voltron. For every being in the universe. You have done all anyone could ever ask from you and then more.” His voice now almost despondent as he looked into her eyes still so full of tears. “The only thing you have yet to do is live for yourself.”

All her life had been duty. Duty to her people, even once they were lost. Duty to the Paladins of Voltron. Duty to the Blue Lion. Duty to the Coalition. Did she also have a duty to herself?

Could she live for herself just this once?

The weight of her father’s hand came to rest on her shoulder. “Yes, you can,” he said, somehow understanding her thoughts without her needing to say a word.

Her mother’s arms wrapped around her once again, and her soft voice filtered to her ear. “And you must.”

“But I don’t want to lose you again.” Her voice sounded small to her. Like she was a child once more, clinging desperately to her parents. “I love you both so much.”

“And we love you with all our hearts. We’ll always be with you,” her mother promised fiercely, holding her even tighter. “And we’ll be waiting for you when the time is right.” Allura choked back more tears and felt their holds on her loosen as they too began to disappear.

It felt so good to be here with them and to be loved by them. She’d already lost them once, but the most painful realization of her life came to her then. As much as she had missed them, she wasn’t ready to be with them. In order to be here with them she’d have to give up something she wasn’t ready to let go of yet. Something she’d still been clinging to distantly this whole time.

That string, that tether she had felt grounding her to this unreality. She felt it tug once more and for the first time she understood that it wasn’t pulling her somewhere. It wasn’t what was holding her here. Her own indecisions were doing that. She had been the one pulling on the ethereal tether. Pulling something toward her.

_You are the heart of Voltron._

Lance’s words, now seeming from a lifetime ago, echoed in Allura’s mind. With that realization came a burst of light. Not white and empty like what surrounded her, but a warm, yellow glow as familiar as the love from her parents.

Two lights, then four, then ten, and into view flew Allura’s old companion. The Blue Lion, flanked by the other four lions of Voltron, here to take Altea’s wayward daughter home.

And she was finally ready.


End file.
